Data and Code for: The Curse of Plenty: The Green Revolution and the Rise in Chronic Disease

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Sheetal Sekhri, University of Virginia; Gauri Kartini Shastry, Wellesley College

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  data 06/11/2023 02:50:PM
  manual_edits_to_latex_code_and_figures 02/20/2024 12:26:PM
  programs 02/12/2024 10:41:AM
  shapefiles 02/12/2024 10:39:AM
README.pdf application/pdf 603.5 KB 02/20/2024 07:26:AM

Project Citation: 

Sekhri, Sheetal, and Shastry, Gauri Kartini. Data and Code for: The Curse of Plenty: The Green Revolution and the Rise in Chronic Disease. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2024. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2024-08-23. https://doi.org/10.3886/E192142V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary The rising rate of chronic disease is a leading driver of the global disease burden. Yet its determinants are not fully understood. We examine the unanticipated contribution of the Green Revolution to the rise in chronic, diet-related diseases by exploiting the faster adoption of high-yield rice and wheat in groundwater-rich districts in India. We find that boys exposed to the Green Revolution during gestation and infancy in areas with greater adoption of new staple varieties were more likely to develop diabetes as adults. Exploring mechanisms, we find that the impact on diabetes differs in households with different dietary habits. We detect no impact on non-diet-related chronic diseases, such as cancer, asthma, and tuberculosis. We conclude that dietary changes can undermine the long-term health benefits of positive income shocks in early childhood, highlighting the need for agricultural and public health policy to emphasize dietary diversity in addition to calorie availability.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms Green Revolution; in utero nutrition; chronic disease
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      I15 Health and Economic Development
      I38 Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
      O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage India
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1951 – 2016
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) program source code


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V1 [2024-08-23]

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